Janet S. Wong's poem "Hard on the Gas" is an example of very effective use of metaphor.
The author tells about her father's learning to drive and eventual driving. She states he learned himself to drive and that his drive was never easy.
This is a way in which she talks about his life. We can infer that he had to go through life alone and he had to learn to take care for himself (maybe his parents died early). It is also suggested that his life was never easy and that it was constant fight.
So, by explaining one thing, the author explains us his father's life in comparing these two things.
